West Ham 0-5 Manchester City (FA Cup): Player Ratings

Now that was the performance that we have all been waiting for. An absolutely superb showing from Pep Guardiola’s men saw the Blues run out 5-0 winners at the London Stadium. The Blues effectively wrapped up the game in the first-half with three quick-fire goals, before finishing the tie off with two more in the second half. City now progress into the draw for the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Let’s take a look at how Jordan Elgott rated the player’s performances tonight.

Willy Caballero – 7.5

Dealt well with West Ham’s crosses into Carroll and Antonio, and also made some really important saves. A good performance from Willy.

Bacary Sagna – 8

I tend to find myself writing the same things about Sagna every week – ‘solid defensively’ – but today he did more than that. He delivered one of the most beautiful crosses you’ll see all season, which was turned home by Håvard Nordtveit to put City 2-0 up. Reminiscent of his cross for Aguero last season to put City 2-1 up at Watford.

John Stones – 7

He hasn’t played too much football recently and it showed with a few sloppy passes and some strange defending in the build-up to Sofiane Feghouli’s open net miss, but in fairness, he dealt well with West Ham’s physicality up front. Took his first Manchester City goal well – hopefully the first of many!

Nicolas Otamendi – 7.5

Like Stones, Otamendi dealt easily with West Ham’s barrage of crosses into the box and performed the rest of his defensive duties well. Another good performance from Nico.

Gael Clichy – 7

Clichy put in another solid performance after his crucial goal at home to Burnley just four days ago. He was unlucky not to grab himself an assist after David Silva’s effort was saved by Adrian early on in the first half.

Pablo Zabaleta – 8.5

Returning to the midfield role that he occupied at home to Celtic, Zabaleta was faultless. At times he actually played ahead of Yaya Touré, but looked completely at home in the position. We saw Pep Guardiola convert Phillip Lahm from a full-back into a central midfielder at Bayern – could we see the same with Zaba? The early signs are promising.

Yaya Touré – 8

Another composed performance from the big Ivorian midfielder, who dispatched yet another penalty kick tonight to get the Blues rolling. Yaya is proving those who doubted him wrong with every passing game.

Kevin De Bruyne – 7.5

De Bruyne played in a slightly deeper role today but did very well in the position. He was replaced by Aleix Garcia with 25 minutes to go, when the game had already been won.

David Silva – 9.5 (Man of the Match)

An absolute masterclass from the Spaniard. David has had his fair share of critics this season, myself included, but he certainly silenced us tonight. He was only on the pitch for 58 minutes but that was all he needed to leave the 57,000 people inside the London Stadium in absolute awe of him. Silva effectively sealed the win for the Blues at the end of the first half, showing incredible composure to put Adrian on his arse, before slotting home. Superb.

Raheem Sterling – 8.5

A very good performance from Raheem, who will be slightly disappointed to not get himself on the scoresheet in such a free-scoring game. Nevertheless, his all round play was excellent, repeatedly dragging the West Ham defenders into no man’s land to create chances for his team-mates.

Sergio Aguero – 8

Struggled to get involved in the match early on, but Kun was very good once the first goal went in, as West Ham had to push forward and he was afforded more space. A lovely through ball to Sterling led to City’s third goal, and he then turned home Yaya Touré’s shot superbly to put the Blues four goals to the good. That goal took him past Colin Bell in the rankings of City’s all-time top scorers. What a player he has been for us.

Subs:

Nolito – 6.5

Replaced David Silva just before the hour mark but struggled to create anywhere near as much as his Spanish compatriot – which isn’t something to be embarrassed about, in fairness.

Aleix Garcia – 7.5

He replaced Kevin De Bruyne with 25 minutes to go and did really well. He was typically composed on the ball and wasn’t afraid to put a tackle in, which is very good to see.

Fabian Delph – 6.5

Replaced Yaya Touré with 15 minutes to go, and while he wasn’t really able to affect the play, it was great to see him back on a football pitch after so long out injured. Hopefully he can keep fit, and prove himself to be a valuable asset for the team.

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Do you agree with Jordan’s ratings? Comment below or tweet us and let us know your thoughts on how City’s players performed.